Philippe Bornard Trousseau Le Ginglet 2009

What looks, smells and tastes like a Pinot… but isn’t a Pinot? Why, a Trousseau grown in Jura of course! This little known grape – also colourfully known as Bastardo or, in true Aussie form, the more literal Gros Cabernet – takes on a definite Pinot-esque persona when grown in the cool climate of this wine region to watch.

Jura sits roughly 80km due east of Beaune, the wine capital of Burgundy, and 70 km west of the Swiss border. It is a unique region with its own breed of one-of-a-kind artisanal producers. The cheeses produced in Jura are classified according to which plateau the cow grazed before being milked, so you can only imagine the care taken in producing the wine.

The region is home to a band of natural winemakers who work with Jura’s unique soils and climate to produce exciting wines that are popping up in the wine bars of Paris, New York, Sydney and Melbourne. (Interestingly, the region was also once home to chemist Louis Pasteur who owned a vineyard, though I suspect would have made his wines a little more by the book.)

Phillippe Bornard is one member of this band. He makes Le Gringlet (which, loosely translated, means easy to drink) from the Trousseau grape in a style very similar to Pinot noirs from the neighbouring Burgundy vineyards. And as much as I love a great Burgundy, unlike many Pinot noirs in a similar price bracket, Bornard’s Trousseau is alive and animated. He uses minimal sulphur, allowing the wine to evolve as you work your way through the bottle (and by ‘work’ I mean in the way a pig might ‘work’ its way through mud).

Le Gringlet is a clean, expressive and, as the name suggests, extremely drinkable wine from one of this distinctive region’s cult producers. If you love your Pinot but fancy trying something new, I encourage you to give this one a swirl. It’s a great introduction to the wines of this region.

:::ON:::

O = Organic: farming without the use of inputs that can have adverse effects. ‘Non-systemic’ fungicides and pesticides are used in place of ‘systemic’ chemicals said to enter the ‘blood’ of a plant (akin to antibiotics in the human world).

N = Natural: no additives or aids (eg yeast, yeast food, added acid/enzymes/tannin) bar a touch of sulphur during aging or before bottling, if any at all.